This invention relates mainly to hats or caps and more particularly to, skull caps, yarmulkas, or other beanie-shaped hats which are positioned on the tops of wearers' heads and which do not extend downwardly to the sides of the heads.
Those who wear skull-cap type hats have the problem that the hats are difficult to retain on their heads. In this regard, women and others who wear small hats on the tops of their heads often use pins for holding them there. That is, a wearer will often extend a pin or needle through a shell of such a hat into the interior thereof, about hair from the wearer's head in the interior and then back through the hat shell again. Thus, the hair of the wearer serves to hold the hat on the wearer's head. Although such a method works adequately if a hat is relatively fancy so that the needle can be easily hidden, it does not work particularly well for a plain skull cap or a yarmulka, because not only can it be seen by others, it also tends to deform the shell of the hat which, again, can be seen by others, both of which detract from the appearance thereof.
Many people who frequently wear yarmulkas employ elongated, bistable, spring, clip retainers for holding them on their heads. In this regard, such an elongated clip retainer has first and second legs coupled together which can be placed in an open stable attitude of the clip retainer, with its legs spread apart, but which can also be forced into a closed stable attitude of the clip retainer with the legs close together. Such a prior-art bistable clip retainer is identified as element 14 in the drawings hereof. Basically, this elongated, bistable, spring, clip retainer is used in the prior art by placing the clip retainer in an open stable attitude and sliding the clip retainer onto a peripheral outer edge of a yarmulka on a person's head with a first leg on the exterior of the yarmulka and a second leg on the interior of the yarmulka. As the clip retainer is slid onto the peripheral outer edge of the yarmulka the second leg "catches" hair. Once the clip retainer is fully slid onto the peripheral outer edge of the yarmulka the first and second legs are forced together and the clip retainer is bowed to the closed stable attitude in which the first and second legs are close together, thereby clamping the wearer's hair to the interior of the yarmulka for anchoring the yarmulka. Although such an arrangement holds a yarmulka on a wearer's head quite nicely, the clip retainer can be seen extending below the peripheral outer edge of the yarmulka and the first leg of the clip retainer can be seen on the exterior thereof, both of which are somewhat annoying aesthetically.
It is an object of this invention to provide a skull-cap/clip-retainer combination which can be easily manipulated to hold a skull cap thereof on a wearer's head with a clip retainer thereof not being substantially visible to others.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a skull cap which is uniquely adapted for use with a prior-art clip retainer to be securely held on the head of a wearer without the clip retainer being substantially visible to others.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a method for holding a hat on the head of a wearer with a clip retainer without the clip retainer being substantially visible to others.